One Day At Horrorland
by superguy
Summary: A vacation road trip seems the solution to the tensions between Clark and his friends.
1. Lost

One Day at Horrorland

A Smallville Fanfiction

superguy

Overview: A vacation road trip seems the solution to the tensions between Clark and his friends.

But when the band of friends stumbles upon a nightmare-themed amusement park, they get more than they bargained for.

RATED R for Romance/Horror

_I rolled down the window and stuck my head out to read the billboard in front of the mechanical monster. I huge red letters it said: WELCOME TO HORRORLAND WHERE NIGHTMARES COME TO LIFE!_

-Lizzy Morris,

_One Day At Horrorland_

CHAPTER ONE:

_Lost_

The sun glinted off the shiny finish of Lana's SUV. Tiny sparkles of light danced across the hood as the vehicle accelerated. It had been that way all day - the entire trip, for that matter. Non-stop sunlight that threatened to burn grass to a crisp was all that could be seen on the stretch of highway.

Clark was at the wheel. He had been driving the whole trip. All six hours of it. Inside he was cursing himself for doing it. But, overcome with his affection for Lana and the urge to impress her, he had taken the wheel.

Everything was quiet. The only sound that could be heard was the gentle yet aggravating hum of the engine. Glancing in the rearview mirror, Clark checked up on his passengers.

Pete sat directly behind him. He had been reading his comic book the entire trip. Chloe sat in the middle seat, camera in hands as she re-watched the footage she'd shot earlier that day. She accidentally leaned into Pete as she reached into her backpack. Pete didn't seem to mind. Then, on the other side of Chloe was Lex. He seemed out of place with his purple silk shirt and black tux jacket. He had been relatively quiet the entire trip. Pete was mostly responsible for this. He had shown disgust when Lex had arrived at Lana's. Clark hadn't told him that Lex would be joining them. This had stirred up old feelings.

And lastly in the front passenger seat sat Lana. She seemed intent on watching the scenery - which wasn't much. It seemed like forever since they had passed a tree. On both sides of the deserted stretch were fields of brown grass. Every now and then a breeze would create ripples in the sea of grass. This only added to the creepy feeling Clark was getting in his stomach.

After a few minutes the silence was too much for Clark and he spoke up.

"Hey, Chloe," he said as he glanced in the mirror. "How's the documentary going?"

Chloe glanced up from her camera and brushed her feathery blonde hair out of her eyes.

"Not bad," she replied as she tinkered with a few buttons on the side of the camera. "But, I think it'll get more exciting once we get to Universal."

This comment caused Lana to glance back and join in the conversation.

"Yeah. Universal is sounding pretty good right about now."

"When're we going to get there, Clark?" Chloe asked as she closed the camera's view flap.

Clark had no idea. They'd been driving for miles and still no cars had passed them. They hadn't even seen a road sign for hours.

"I'm not sure, Chloe," he replied as he turned on the air conditioning. "Hopefully soon. I'm getting tired of driving."

Pete set down his comic book to chime in.

"Clark, I already told you I'd drive when you got tired."

"No, Pete," Clark rebutted. "It's okay. I don't want to waste time stopping. I don't know how much gas we're going to have left before we get there."

Pete seemed dissatisfied, but went along with it anyway.

There was a long silence before anyone else spoke. But Chloe broke the tension this time.

"Man, this is boring. Lana, would you turn on the radio, please?"

Lana shrugged and turned the volume dial.

"I'm not sure which stations are which…so…"

But the radio was full of static. Each channel she tried was nothing but static.

"Try 97.9," Chloe suggested, but that too was nothing but static. "98.7." Static.

Lex's voice rose over the din, surprising everyone.

"Try 95.9."

Lana watched him, locking a stare. Her fingers found the station, but yet again, static.

"This is crazy!" Pete exclaimed as he gripped the back of Clark's and Lana's seats and leaned forward. "We're so in the middle of nowhere that we aren't even getting reception for the radio!"

"If you want," Lex started, "I can call mapquest for directions. I've got my cell -"

"Lex, we're not lost." Clark cut in as he pressed down on the accelerator. "Look - there's a turnoff. This probably leads to a city." He hoped.

"Finally!" Chloe said as she reopened her camera. She turned it so that it was facing her. "Hello eager fans of the _Chloe Chronicles_. Now that we're finally back on track, I'm updating. Our quest to make it to Universal Studios is on its way once again. We've just turned off onto an exit which should lead us…somewhere."

She glanced up at Clark. He was busy watching the road.

"Clark, how long have we been driving for?"

Clark thought for a minute, then looked down at his watch. "About seven hours."

"Man, we should be there by now. Don't you think?"

"Calm down, Chloe," Lex said with a grin. "There's a billboard up ahead. See?"

Chloe set down her camera to look out the window. There was indeed a billboard up ahead. It was strangely shaped and hard to make out. They had to wait until they got closer to see what it said. Chloe gasped as she aimed her camera at it.

The sign was enormous. All white with red lettering on it. Drips of red paint seemed to have run off of the letters, all in capital letters. The sign said _ENJOY A STAY AT HORRORLAND - WHERE NIGHTMARES COME TO LIFE! Next Mile_.

"What the -" Lana said as she rolled down her window, allowing a breeze of parched air to waft into the front.

"Cool!" Pete said as he leaned across Chloe and Lex to look out at the billboard. It was simple - but sounded cool. There were scratch marks all over the board. It was as if something with large talons had ripped at the wood, peeling the white paint behind the writing.

"What in the world is Horrorland?" Lana asked as she glanced back at Lex. Lex shrugged.

"I've never heard of it," he replied as he unbuttoned the top two buttons on his silk shirt. The heat from outside was starting to get to all of them.

"We'll soon find out, won't we?" Chloe asked as she panned the camera around to look at all of them. "Can we go to it, Clark?"

Clark gazed at her excited eyes. Her grin was contagious because he too started to smile, as did Pete. Pete was smiling for a different reason, though.

"What about Universal?" Clark asked as the camera aimed at him. "I thought we all wanted to go there? Besides, Lex already said he'd pay for half of our expenses if we went there with him…"

Lex shrugged. "Horrorland sounds pretty good after driving seven hours, Clark. We could at least stop there and ask for directions to Universal."

"Yeah!" Chloe said excitedly. "This place sounds like wall of weird material! Could we please go there, Clark? Even if it's only for five minutes?"

Clark didn't really want to stop at a place called Horrorland, but shrugged anyway. "I suppose we could. I mean, it's on the way -"

"Aaaaaahhhh!"

Lana let out an enormous scream as she fell back into Clark, pointing at the window. Everyone looked over at the billboard. Something was peering at them from behind it. Two large horns - reminiscent of ram horns poked out from behind a dark green face full of wrinkles and two large yellow eyes glared back at them.

Clark watched in horror as two large claws reached over the top of the sign and dug their nails into the wood finish. Dragging them up, he watched as the paint peeled before their very eyes.

A monster was behind the billboard, preparing to tear their flesh.


	2. Blow Out

CHAPTER TWO:

_Blow Out_

Chloe let out a laugh as she aimed her camera out the window and at the monster. A chorus of laughter came from her and Pete, both glancing at each other with tears in their eyes as they shared their mirth.

"That was _awesome_!" Chloe gasped between breaths. Lex nodded, grinning as he chuckled.

"Didn't expect that," he muttered under his breath as he looked at the front of the car to Lana and Clark, Lana having bumped up against Clark's chest. He looked back at Lex and shrugged, not knowing how to handle it much less react to it.

"Lana - uh…it's okay. It's just a -"

"Robot!" she said as she sat back in her seat and tossed her dark hair behind her shoulder. "I can't believe I was that stupid!"

"Hey, I was pretty freaked out," Pete said as he wiped a tear from his eye. "But you have to admit, the look on you guys' faces were priceless! Did you get that, Chloe?"

Chloe turned the camera towards her and spoke into it.

"Sure did. Chloe Chronicles fans, that was the most amazing thing that's happened on this trip yet. I say we head over to this _Horrorland_ and see what the screams are all about."

"No, Chloe," Clark started as he put the car into drive and started to turn around. "We have to get to Universal before sunset."

"Oh, come on!" Chloe pleaded with him, leaning up towards them, separating him from Lana. "We _have _to go there! It's just a few miles down the road, please!"

Pete nodded fervently.

"Aw man, come on, Clark! This will be awesome! Just for a few hours at least. We haven't stretched our legs in ages!"

Clark was going to continue to drive in the opposite direction, but Lex intervened.

"How about it, Clark?" he started, breaking the pleading party up. "I'll pay for everything. Just for a few hours, can't hurt. Besides, Universal is probably a long ways from here."

Clark looked over at Lana. She still appeared ruffled and was starting to catch her breath. The monster that had jumped out at them had been all green, like a walking corpse, with horns reminiscent of a ram's on its head. Large yellow eyes had glared at them as the mouth opened to reveal a row of razor-sharp teeth like a shark's.

Turning back to Lex, he shrugged.

"You guys really want to?"

"Yes!" they all said together. All except Lana.

"I really don't want to go anywhere scary," she said simply.

"Oh, come on, Lana." Pete tried to persuade her. "You and Clark can sit at a table or something and get some lunch while we go exploring. What do you say?"

There was a moment of silence, then Lana nodded.

"Okay, I guess. Food sounds good. My stomach has been growling for the past two hours…"

With that said, Clark turned the car back around and started past the billboard towards the theme park called _Horrorland_.

It didn't take long to get there. After driving for five minutes, the superstructures of a roller coaster and ferris wheel came into view. Soon enough the gates of the park slid above the horizon and the parking lot quickly greeted them.

Stopping the car, Clark looked up to see a massive fence surrounding the park. The top of it had barbed wire coiling around and flashing red lights every so often. It reminded Clark of something pulled out of the movie _Jurassic Park_.

"Aw man! This is awesome!" Chloe and Pete said together as they both got out of the car.

It didn't take long for the others to do the same and they all congregated at the entrance. Clark locked the doors just to be safe before he joined them. He didn't know why; they were in the middle of nowhere and there were only about five cars in the whole entire lot. But he just felt safer that way. He couldn't easily dismiss the deep feeling of unease that had made home in his stomach over the past few hours.

"Can we go in?" Pete asked as he watched Lex pull out his wallet.

"I don't have any cash on me. Hope they take Visa. Or a check."

"I'm sure they will," Chloe said as she grabbed Pete by the arm and dragged him over to what appeared to be the entrance. The others followed slowly.

"Clark," Lana began as she fanned her neck with her hand. "Can't we just wait in the car?"

Clark was about to ask if the others would go ahead without them when a giant explosion rocked the parking lot. Blasts of heat hit the group in waves as a cloud of dark smoke rose from billowing torrents of fire where Lana's SUV had once sat.

"What!" Lana yelled as she rushed towards the flames. "What happened to my car!"

Clark hurried and stopped her.

"No, Lana!"

She seemed hysterical. Tears burst from her eyes as she watched the wreckage of her brand new car smoldering in a heap before her.

"Oh my gosh!" Chloe said as she turned the camera towards the fire. "Did you see that?"

"Holy crap!" Lex exclaimed as he reached into his pocket. Feeling around, he felt his cell phone and sighed. "Don't worry. My cell's okay. We can call the chopper."

Pete stood next to him as he pulled out the phone, flipping it open.

Trying to dial the number, Lex frowned in frustration.

"What the Hell…"

"What is it, Lex?" Clark asked as he calmed Lana down.

"My batteries. They're almost dead. Can't get a good signal…not enough bars. This is like one freaking sci-fi movie."

Chloe walked over to Lana and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Lana, it'll be okay. Let's go inside and see if we can't find a phone that works or something. I'm sure there's help inside."

Lana nodded, wiping away the tears.

"Sure…okay…"

"Man," Pete started as he walked astride Clark. "What do you think did that to the car?"

Clark looked back, squinting. Soon enough he could see through the metal of the wreckage. There appeared to be nothing abnormal about the vehicle. Everything was where it should be. No bombs or anything. It just looked like it had combusted.

"I don't know, Pete. Maybe the heat or something. Fumes…"

"This is some crazy stuff…" Pete replied as they made their way up to the ticket booth at the entrance. It was surrounded by a large fence that connected to the barbed-wire one. A man in a green costume similar to the animatronic one on the billboard was seated in the window.

"Well, hello," he started as he pushed a button on the desk. "Come to see the park?"

Clark shook his head.

"Our car just exploded! Didn't you see -?"

"Oh dear," the horror said as he shook his head. "So sorry. Don't know why that happened…"

"Do you have any phones we can use?" Lex asked as he held up his cell phone.

"Phones? Oh no, there're no phones in the park. I'm sorry. Park regulations you know."

"Park regulations?" Pete shot out. "What do you mean?"

"I am sorry," the horror went on. "We can't have phones in the park. It defeats the illusion. Why don't you all go inside and get something to eat, maybe have a little fright?"

Chloe nodded, pulling her camera out.

"Sure, can we? There must be a phone somewhere…"

"Yeah. Probably paid to say that line, right?" Lex started, but the horror said nothing. Pulling out his visa card, Lex handed it through the hole in the plexi-glass and started. "You guys take Visa?"

The horror shook his head and pushed the silver card back to Lex.

"Oh no, everything's free today."

"What?"

The horror smiled, or at least Clark thought it was a smile.

"Everything's free. Go on in and have some fun."

Chloe and Pete grinned.

"Awesome!"

"Guys, I don't know…" Clark started, but when they looked back for the horror, he had disappeared from the window.

"Wait, where'd he go?" Lex asked as he looked across the counter towards the back.

"Probably out a trap door or something to scare us," Pete suggested.

Clark glanced down at Lana.

"You okay with this?"

Lana nodded.

"Sure. Let's just get something to eat and then find a phone. I'm really hot out here."

"Okay. Let's go find some shade."

And with that, they started into the park where their worst nightmares were about to take place.


	3. Werewolf Town

CHAPTER THREE:

_Werewolf Town_

The park was enormous! Judging by the size of the map erected in the center of the entrance, just to get to the other side of the park could take a half-hour. Chloe was jumping with glee as she waved her digital video camera around, shooting everything and anything in sight.

"Would you look at that!" she exclaimed as she tugged on Lex's sleeve which he was attempting to roll up. It had gotten to be quite a bit hotter than it was before. Lex sighed.

"Chloe, don't you understand how serious this is?"

Chloe smiled.

"Yeah. We get to have fun for the day for _free_!"

Lex stopped her, Pete walking up behind them.

"Lana's car couldn't have just blown up for no reason. Somebody must have planted something in it – an explosive, perhaps. It could have been someone out to get me because of a business entanglement – or Lana because she owns the Talon with me. We have to be very cautious."

"Yeah…alright. I understand."

"Good," Lex muttered as he reached into his pocket and felt for his cell phone. "I still have my cell. They won't take that away from me. Don't go waving your camera around too much. They could probably confiscate that as well."

Hurrying to hide the camera, Chloe slipped it into her purse she was carrying and pretended nothing had happened.

"Alright. Let's just act like that wasn't there. Now," Chloe spewed. "Can we please, _please_ go on a ride?"

Pete hurried up to meet them.

"Hey –" he started. "Clark and Lana are going to sit over there at the entrance for a while. Getting over what just happened."

"Can't blame them," Lex said as he glanced back over his shoulder at them. "A car's a big piece of real estate to lose in one second."

"Yeah," Pete muttered. "Too bad I never got to keep any of mine."

Chloe chuckled. Most of Pete's "hotrods" got trashed – like his Kryptonite-fueled racer. She remembered when he'd stumbled into the Torch, upset to the point where he couldn't even look at her.

_A first in my mind_.

As the three of them strode across the Pavilion, Lex stopped to examine the park map.

"Would you look at that?" he muttered as he ran his hand across his forehead, wiping early beads of sweat from his brow. "This park _is_ enormous. Check out the names for some of these rides…"

The list was long, and appeared to be etched in blood. A cool effect in Chloe's opinion.

"The Death Dragon, Coaster of Doom –"

"Ohmygosh!" Chloe exclaimed. "Can we go on that one first?"

Lex and Pete both looked at her in the same exact moment.

"Sounds too scary for me." Lex said, and Pete agreed.

"Oh, come _on_!" she protested, and she dragged Lex by the arm towards a section of path that branched off, cutting through some creepy woods. The trees had no leaves and everything seemed dead. Pete wondered if the trees were real or if they were just synthetic.

"Eew! Gross!" Chloe said enthusiastically as they caught a glimpse of a decapitated head hanging from a hook off one of the tree branches. A sign up ahead stated in blood DO NOT ENTER WOODS. DANGER.

Lex was not impressed. This was too gross for him. He had to admit he liked a good scare every once and a while, but seeing severed heads that looked almost too real wasn't something he would have paid money for. It was a good thing they got in for free.

In an instant, Chloe started laughing. Pete glanced over at her as they walked.

"Look at the sign up ahead!" she said as she pointed. Pete looked. It appeared to be made of old wood that was rotting. Probably created in a factory by an artist to look authentic. On the wood, burned in, were the words WEREWOLF VILLAGE – BEWARE. DO NOT GO INTO THE HOUSES. "This is _awesome_!"

The houses were one against another, leaving no alleys or openings of any kind. It was reminiscent of an old western city in a black and white film. Except the weird part was, everything seemed to be black and white. There was no color at all in any of the buildings. Not even the trees had color. With no leaves, the dead trees looked like hands with icy nails reaching into the sky.

"Can we go into one of the houses just for fun?" Chloe asked as she pulled out her camera.

Lex took the camera from her.

"I thought I told you to put this away."

"There's nobody around!"

"So? There could be cameras…"

"Get out!"

Lex sighed. Chloe was just too excited to be reasoned with.

"If somebody shows, you hide it as fast as your hands can. I don't want any of our electronic things confiscated. Something's not right here."

"What are you talking about? It's all part of the mood."

"No," Lex went on. "It's not. Did you see a single camera in the entrance booth?"

Pete shook his head.

"Nope. None."

"And did you see any computers anywhere?"

Chloe thought for a moment then shook her head.

"No…"

"Exactly. Universal would have had cameras all over the place even if the setting were a scary movie. And I'm sure every theme park in the nation has access to a computer for records. I even think it's code now."

"Okay…I'm a bit creeped out now." Chloe muttered as they slowly strolled through Werewolf Village.

Something creaked and made Pete jump. Chloe shot out a hand and grabbed his shoulder.

"What was that?"

Lex grinned.

"A werewolf, of course."

Chloe gave a disgusted frown.

"Lex – stop it. You just scare the crap out of me and now you pull my leg."

"Well, that's what the sign said. I guess they're all in their houses."

Suddenly one of the house doors opened. Nothing was behind it, but the door swung heavily forward revealing a staircase built into a sloping hallway. A voice echoed out.

"_Come on in._" it rasped. "_Come in and visit. I don't get many visitors these days…come and have a bite_."

Chloe shuddered.

"No way. I'm out of here."

"Suit yourself. I'm going to try it."

"Lex – no!"

"It's just an amusement park, like you said."

"No!"

But before Chloe or Pete could do anything more, Lex strolled towards the open door and stepped inside.


End file.
